


Claw and Prick

by Liara_90



Series: A Home of Sticks [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Dating, Dom/sub Undertones, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Flirting, Making Out, POV Female Character, POV Third Person, Pre-Canon, Semi-Public Sex, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 15:58:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14476155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/pseuds/Liara_90
Summary: Raven and Summer go to the mall. Raven encourages Summer to break the rules. Summer shows her how much fun it can be to follow them.Raven/Summer smut in the context of a Poly STR relationship. Can be read as a standalone, or as part of the series.





	Claw and Prick

* * *

“Guess who?”

Raven Branwen barely stirred as a pair of hands were slipped over her eyes - she had no need to guess. Not because she could identify the the woman by the sound of her voice, or the smoothness of her skin, or by the woman’s height and her stance. She knew who it was because there was exactly one person on Remnant with both the skill and temerity to sneak up on her, and that woman happened to be her Team Leader.

“Hello, Summer,” greeted Raven, as the woman in question removed her hands, dropping herself into an adjacent chair. They were at a small table in a small cafe inside a colossal mall, surrounded on all sides by thousands of Valeans looking to do some weekend shopping. Raven wrapped her fingers around a cup of chai, taking a small sip. “You’re here early.”

Summer smiled. “Better early than sorry,” she replied, settling into the wrought iron chair that gave the cafe a very _faux_ Atlesian atmosphere. “Mind if I order something?”

“I’m not stopping you,” Raven answered, with a permissive wave of her hand. Summer smiled and made her way to cafe’s counter, pondering the chalk-scrawled menu. Raven watched her out of the corner of her eye, one hand still wrapped around her rapidly-cooling cup of tea. Even in the simplest of transactions Summer was unfailingly cheerful and grateful, brightening some overworked and underappreciated barista’s day with smalltalk and small smiles.

If there was anyone who fit the description of ‘ _too pure for this world_ ’, Raven was pretty damn sure that was her.

“Sorry about that,” Summer needlessly apologized, returning to her seat opposite Raven. She took a decadent sip of some hot chocolate beverage which came with a tower of whipped creaming, managing to get a bit of that on her nose as she did.

Raven snorted. “ _Here_ ,” she said, leaning forward before Summer could reach for her napkin. With a swipe of her finger she wiped a globule of whipped cream off of the tip of Summer’s nose, before leaning back and licking the digit clean.

Summer giggled, wiping off what remained with her napkin. Even Raven let slip a smile. How Summer got her to let her guard down so quickly still baffled Raven, but then, Summer Rose was STRQ Leader for a reason.

“So what’s the plan for the day?” Summer asked, eyeing Raven over the rim of her cup. She sipped the steaming cocoa with a noisy slurp.

Raven shrugged. “Didn’t really have one,” she confessed, unsurprisingly. “It’s a big mall.”

“Biggest on Sanus, supposedly,” Summer agreed. A fire had swept through much of Vale’s Old Quarter a few years ago, causing irreparable damage to the city’s history but also clearing a _swath_ of prime real estate for redevelopment. The Royal Arcade was a labyrinthine expanse of restaurants and retail outlets, a _de facto_ community center for high schoolers and pensioners alike.

They sat in silence for a minute or two, Summer sipping her hot chocolate, Raven people-watching. Raven was not really a _mall_ type by inclination, but The Royal had ended up being Beacon’s biggest off-campus social scene. Qrow and Tai were more than content to waste hours shoving coins into arcade cabinets, and Summer liked (window) shopping as much as any teen her age. So Raven ended up there most weekends all the same.

“Is it weird that I’m nervous for our first date?” Summer asked, by the time her hot chocolate had cooled to lukewarm cocoa. “I mean, we’ve kind of already moved in.”

“We’re not going _on a date_ ,” Raven insisted, with odd firmness. Because Raven didn’t really think of herself as the kind of woman who went on _dates_ , who had a _boyfriend_ and now apparently a _girlfriend_. “We’re just friends hanging out at the mall.”

“Right,” Summer agreed. “And sometimes kissing.”

Raven made a low growling noise in her throat, but before she could finish it Summer had already whirred around her in a vortex of roses, leaving a berry red imprint on Raven’s right cheek. “Don’t be a pest,” Raven chided.

Summer was already back in her seat, the innocent expression on her face suggesting she’d never left it. “Am I ever?” she asked, her voice saccharine. She softened slightly. “So you don’t like saying we’re officially dating?”

It was, Summer had had to concede, a little bit complicated, at least to someone who’d kissed exactly one boy before Beacon. Taiyang and Raven had been roommates, then friends, then (apparently) lovers. Summer had been a little disappointed that her two crushes had managed to fall for each other, but her happiness for them had been deep and true. She had assumed that that pairing had closed off her romantic possibilities with the both of them.

It had recently been brought to her attention that neither Raven nor Tai saw things quite the same way.

Raven rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Why did you people have to complicate everything?” she muttered.

“ _You people_?”

“People in the Kingdoms,” Raven said, in exasperation. “Names and labels and…” she made a frustrated gesture with her hand “...all these _courtship rituals_.”

Summer raised her eyebrows. “Courtship rituals, Raven?”

Raven rapped the table with her knuckles. “I grew up with things being… _simpler_ ,” she confessed.

Summer watched her closely. Even after so much time together, Raven and Qrow were tight-lipped about the people who had raised them. She and Tai were smart enough to realize that _whoever_ they were, they probably had a pretty compelling reason to stay so far off the grid. Every tidbit of trivia the Branwens revealed was practically a revelation.

“People just kind of loved who they liked,” Raven continued, missing or ignoring Summer’s redoubled attention. “Slept with who they liked. Didn’t need to make a whole song and dance about it.”

Summer offered a flash of a smile. “Sounds nice,” she admitted. “No drama.”

“Oh, there definitely was,” Raven conceded, her finger tracing senseless lines on the table. Her eyes darted to the silver of Summer’s. “Sorry. I’m just not very good at…”

Summer finished the dregs of her drink. “Don’t worry, Raven.” She set the cup down, a faint _clink_ of porcelain. She leaned forward, her posture contrasting with Raven’s reclined pose. “I just want to make sure that you’re not,” she faltered for a half-second, “ _embarrassed_ of me. I don’t care what words you use. Or if you don’t use any at all. But I don’t want to be a dirty little secret for you and Tai.”

Raven’s jaw actually dropped a little. “Summer, dear,” she began, planting her elbows on the table. “Don’t worry about that.” 

Summer let out a faint ‘ _meep_ ’ as Raven’s fingers curled around the collar of her cloak, yanking her across the table and into a crude embrace. Raven’s lips were all _want_ and _need_ , which Summer was all too happy to sate. She reached out with her hand to steady herself, knocking over her cup in the process, barely noticing against the overwhelming sensation of her lover.

Raven broke away. “C’mon,” she called, her voice low and husky, “let’s go.”

It took Summer a good five second to realize that Raven was leading her by the hand, literally walking hand-in-hand with her down the broad boulevard of the King’s Arcade.

Unlike Summer, who was practically invisible in any gathering of five or more people, Raven Branwen stood out in a crowd. It wasn’t just her height, either - Raven had an almost forcefully striking presence that even Tai in all his bombasticness couldn’t match. Summer was used to weaving her way through crowds, flowing like air along the path of least resistance.

Raven had a way of making the crowds part before her. Even with a five-foot-and-a-bit woman in tow.

Summer was dragged up two flights of escalators before Raven finally released her, if only for the time it took to slide a hand around her back. “Best view in the house,” she promised, steering Summer towards a guardrail overlooking the thronging patrons of the Arcade below. It was much quieter up here, Summer noted distantly, most of the businesses were insurance offices or lawyers or a computerized testing center, not the kind of places that attracted the levels of foot traffic from below. The ceiling above them was glass, allowing the sunlight of the Valean spring to pour through. A coin-clogged fountain could be heard distantly from below, the spray heads creating patterns with jets of water.

“The _second_ -best view,” Summer replied, a little cheekily. Raven raised an eyebrow, soliciting clarification, but Summer just hopped onto the lip of the railing, balanced on a bar a full three stories above the ground. For a Huntress with her Aura that was more than a survivable fall, but Raven’s pulse quickened a little nonetheless.

But Summer Rose - Fearless Team Leader of STRQ that she was - just wrapped her arms around Raven’s neck, now that she sat a few inches above her partner. “ _Best_ view.” She pressed her lips to Raven’s.

“You insufferable flirt,” Raven laughed back, her hands resting on Summer’s hips. Summer just smiled, her fingers slipping through the uncombed strands of Raven’s hair. Summer had never met another woman with hair quite like that, hair as untamable as the woman who wore it.

And for a few minutes, they weren’t Huntresses or secret weapons, just horny teens enjoying a few minutes to themselves. The occasional passerby slowed to gawk at their private spectacle, but anyone who gazed too long was liable to get a glare from Raven’s dark red eyes. Those had an effect that even Summer’s silver gaze couldn’t replicate.

“So how did you find this place?” Summer asked, finding room to speak in the pauses between kisses. Her butt was starting to get a little sore from the way the railing was digging into her, but she didn’t want to get off it, not just yet. “I’m guessing you weren’t in the market for,” she glanced at the nearest shopfront, “‘Vale Tax Preparation Services’”.

Raven snorted her denial. “Tai took me up here, once,” she confessed, her thumbs playing across Summer’s hips. “He was waiting for someone from Team… fuck, starts with a _B_ …”

“BASL?” Summer offered, helpfully.

Raven shook her head. “No. It’s not important. I was starting to get a little, I dunno, overwhelmed by the crowds.” Summer was nothing but patient understanding. “So he took me up here. It was late, and we had almost the whole floor to ourselves.”

“ _Mm_ ,” Summer _hummed_ , with a therapist’s encouragement.

Raven smirked. “Started making out, of course. Completely forgot about B-whatever he was meeting.”

“So what you’re saying…” Summer leaned forward, so most of her weight was on the arms she had wrapped around Raven’s neck. “Is that you’re just recycling old date ideas on me.”

Raven look taken aback, and actually _took_ a step back, which forced Summer to slide off the railing and back to the floor. “That was _not_ what I was…” The denial died on her lips, withering in that silver-eyed gaze. (More importantly to Summer, Raven didn’t deny that she was recycling a _date_ idea, either.)

“Oh, it’s okay, I’m used to hand-me-downs,” Summer replied, with melodramatic mournfulness.

Raven slid up against Summer, keeping the smaller woman pinned between her body and the railing. “ _Don’t_ try that,” Raven growled, with just enough menace in her voice. “I picked this spot because I thought you’d like it.” Her hands played over Summer’s cheeks, gripping her head for another possessive kiss.

A low moan slipped out of Summer as she was kissed by Raven. Followed by the faintest of gasps as Raven’s fingers slid beneath the hem of her blouse. “Oh wow... Raven…” she murmured, unusually inarticulate. Raven’s fingers were curling around the waist of her pants. Summer purred a little, despite herself. “We’re in public…”

Raven didn’t even bother glancing up, nestling her face closer to Summer’s. Skin smooth as rose petals, with a scent that matched. “We’re not breaking any laws yet,” Raven assured her, listening to Summer’s clipped breaths. And then she began sliding her hands a little further below the waistline, feeling the fabric of Summer’s panties. “Well, maybe one or two.”

The idea of any PDA more than a quick kiss or a chaste hand-holding had never much appealed to Summer Rose. An introvert by inclination, the idea of making out in public - or, judging by the direction of Raven’s hands, _even more adult stuff_ in public - had never been a personal fantasy of hers. She just didn’t have an exhibitionist bone in her body. Neither did Raven, of course - she just didn’t care what anyone who saw her thought. But as Raven strung kisses along Summer’s throat, as her hands clenched around butt… Summer could feel herself going along with it. Maybe not breaking the law, but certainly the rules of polite society. Because to be _wanted_ by Raven Branwen was intoxicating, _overwhelming_. An intensity even someone so self-possessed as Summer couldn’t easily check. Her protests in the name of propriety were weak, even as Raven’s hand moved towards her crotch.

“Well now, Rose,” Raven murmured, her voice low and raw, lips inches from Summer’s ear. “Want to go somewhere Tai hasn’t?”

“You better not be teasing,” Summer replied, doing her best to regain some authority.

Raven just laughed, a hoarse little noise, and for the second time that day Summer found herself being pulled along by her partner. They went down one flight of escalators, and for a second, Summer thought that Raven would be dragging her to a hotel. It would have been cliche, but she also would have gone along with it. Raven might move fast, after all, but speed _was_ kind of Summer’s thing.

But instead Summer found herself being pulled into a clothing store, the kind of place that sold artisanally ripped jean and designer capris and all sorts of things Summer could never imagine Raven buying. Her bewilderment was compounded as she saw Raven grab a pair of leggings at random off the rack, two sizes too small and a thousand times too glittery.

“Just these,” Raven called out, as she led Summer to the dressing room, blowing right past the pimple-plagued teenager who had the misfortune of supervising the stalls.

“Uhh, there’s only one person at a time…” he tried to call out, his voice cracking into a falsetto.

Raven swung a stall open. “She’s my personal stylist,” the Huntress deadpanned, shoving Summer bodily inside.

“ _Do you think he bought it?_ ” Summer asked, sarcastically, as soon as the door was swung shut. The changing stall was barely wide enough for the two of them to stand in, which was admittedly not the biggest problem for what Raven clearly had in mind. More importantly, the door was actually solid, going all the way to the floor and giving the two women a modicum of privacy.

“Don’t worry about him,” Raven replied, letting the pants she’d grabbed fall to the floor. Her fingers were back at Summer’s waist, feeling for her blouse. “Let’s get you out of this…”

“ _No_.”

Raven pulled her hand back, immediately, as if it’d been pricked by a thorn. Because Summer Rose had used her Team Leader Voice, and that had a damn-near Pavlovian effect on every member of STRQ. Raven included.

Raven exhaled through her nose, blowing Summer’s bangs. “I’m not going to fast for you, am I?” she asked. It was meant to be teasing, but there was real uncertainty in her tone.

A small smile formed on Summer’s lips, her silver eyes unblinking. Even now, even with the mantle of leadership, so much of her wanted to surrender. To drown in the intoxicating allure of Raven Branwen, to be enveloped and overwhelmed by her. But Summer had seen how that went. They’d won the Vytal Tournament in their first year, and Raven had ridden her newfound celebrity like a wave, taking lovers as they threw themselves at her. And she’d burned through them, discarding each one after she’d taken what she wanted. There were scarce few souls who could handle prolonged exposure to Raven Branwen, to withstand her intensity and earn her respect. Taiyang Xiao Long was one them.

Summer Rose was determined to be another.

“Take your top off,” Summer commanded. And like all her commands, it was barely louder than a murmur, soft as silk and unyielding as steel. Her smile vanished as she gazed at Raven, daring her to disobey.

But dutiful teammate that she was, Raven didn’t. She paused for a short second and then pulled her top off overhead, revealing a black bra and an expanse of pale skin. Summer closed the space between them, her slender fingers playing across Raven’s abdominals. Raven moved unthinkingly to take Summer’s hands in her own, but was batted away.

“Hands to yourself,” Summer instructed, tugging down Raven’s skirt. “Behind your back, actually.”

“You like making the rules?” Raven asked with a smirk, even as her hands slipped behind the small of her back, pressing against the wall.

Summer hummed. “Sometimes,” she allowed, her hands playing along the insides of Raven’s bare thighs. Even the stoic Branwen couldn’t entirely suppress her reaction. “And you’re going to like following them.”

“Am I…?” Raven wondered, even as her eyes drifted shut.

“You will,” Summer promised, withdrawing her hands. Because if Raven could get her to enjoy bending the rules, then turnabout was certainly fair play.

“The rose has thorns,” Raven said, smiling at the familiar bit of wordplay.

Someone knocked on the door. “ _Uh, excuse me, miss, uh, one of you is going to have to leave.”_ That teen again, a boy who was clearly not paid enough to deal with horny Huntresses. “ _Please?”_

Summer glanced at Raven. ‘ _Stay_ ’ was all she mouthed, before cracking the door a half-inch. It swung outwards, however slightly. “We’ll just be two minutes!” Summer promised with a smile, flipping on her sunniest disposition like a switch. “So sorry!”

She pulled the door shut. Raven’s stance hadn’t shifted an inch. Her breaths were still deep and hurried, her chest rising and falling in excitement. Summer pressed herself against Raven, brushing wayward hairs from her partner’s face. “ _Very good, Raven_ ,” she whispered.

Raven chuckled. “Has anyone told you how fucking hot that voice is?” she asked, as Summer rested a hand on her breastbone.

“Once or twice,” Summer conceded, feeling Raven’s breaths. “Spread your legs a little. And close your eyes.”

Raven’s feet slid apart, rubbing along the coarse carpeting of the change room. She closed her eyes, her trust in Summer absolute, her faith rewarded with a hand cupping her crotch. Raven didn’t moan, but her breaths became sharp and ragged. She’d been working herself into a state of arousal since Summer had surprised her at the cafe; she was practically at the breaking point already.

“I didn’t think you’d be so easy,” Summer teased, dryly. The fingers of her free hand splayed across Raven’s breastbone, _pushing_ her gently but firmly against the wall. “Don’t move,” she reminded.

Raven made a grunt in the negatory, the only motion coming from a quivering in her knees and her thighs. Summer curled her fingers, applying _just_ the right pressure to _just_ the right spots. _Gods_ , she was masterful. Raven sucked in her lower lip, teeth sinking into it. “ _Not yet_ ,” Summer breathed, her words and her pace moving in perfect synchrony. “ _Not yet…”_

Silver eyes bore down on Raven. She watched the last edifices of self-control slip away, watched as Raven began to writhe against the wall despite her best efforts. She slowed her strokes, waiting… waiting … “Ask nicely, Raven.”

“Please… _Summer_ …”

And with little more than a deft flick of her wrist, Summer brought Raven over the edge, a short gasp and buckling knees paying testament to her handiwork.

“Okay, Summer… that was pretty damn good,” Raven said, steading herself. She caught a glimpse of her post-orgasm expression in the mirror and laughed despite herself. “Ready for-”

Someone was knocking on the door again. Well, _banging_ on it, really.

“ _Arcade Security_ ,” a voice on the other side boomed out, male and well over sixty, by the sound of it. “ _We’d like to have a word with you.”_

“One second, I’m naked!” Raven shouted back. It was close enough to the truth, and Raven needed to buy them some time.

“... _You have one minute,”_ the voice beyond the door called out. As if they needed that long.

Raven pulled up her skirt in one swift motion, then shoved her arms inelegantly through the sleeves of her shirt. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind, feeling the energy of her soul being channeled through her body... 

... A pulsing red portal appeared right beside her, the air around the edges crackling slightly. Raven bowed her head. “Ladies first.”

Summer shot one apologetic glance towards the door, then threw herself through it. Raven followed her in a second later.

They’d never be able to return to that particular boutique. But it had been worth it.

* * *

CODA

“Y’know, we should do this more often,” Tai mused, as his thumbs mashed plastic buttons with the ferocity of an industrial jackhammer.

“ _Hrgh_ ,” Qrow grunted affirmatively in reply, unwilling to spare the cognition required for conversation. His eyes too were glued to the screen, drying out from a lack of blinking.

“Just some bro time. Male bonding.” Tai leaned forward. Both his legs had long since gone numb, though he had yet to notice. Qrow’s avatar had his virtual ninja pinned against the right edge of the screen, and only a manic sequence of blocks was keeping Tai in the game. “It’s hard finding time for just _us_. What with dating Raven and now Summer.”

Qrow’s thumb slipped off the sweat-slicked B Button, giving Tai the half-second opening he needed to execute the fourteen-button Reverse Ascendant Dragon combo and rip out Qrow’s virtual heart. Which was an accomplished Tai ranked roughly on par with slaying his first Nevermore.

“ _SOARING NINJA WINS_ ,” a sixteen-bit announcer declared. Tai pointedly ignored the murderous looks Qrow was shooting in his direction. “ _ROUND TWO._ ”

Behind them, a pulsing portal to the Royal Arcade in downtown Vale opened, through which Summer and then Raven appeared. Summer rolled over her shoulder with practised deftness, while Raven just landed with a solid _thump_.

“We’re home!” Summer declared, dusting herself off. Raven belatedly realized she’d put her skirt on backwards, and twisted it around.

Tai made an indistinct grunt of acknowledgement. Qrow was utterly silence. Pixels flitted across the screen

Raven cleared her throat. “Summer and I banged in a dressing room at the mall.” Nothing. Raven glanced sideways at Summer. “Caf opens in ten minutes.”

The sound of buttons being tapped echoed throughout the dorm room.

“I could go for an early dinner,” Summer replied in agreement. “Though you’re probably dying to eat something, too.” Raven grinned a little at Summer’s phrasing.

The two Huntresses slid out of the dorm room without further conversation. There was no sense in interrupting the boys when they were having so much fun, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your readership! Please feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, feedback, or headcanons in the comments. Criticism is the only way I’ll ever get better as a writer. If you’d like to know more about me/my writing, feel free to hit up my [About](http://www.pvoberstein.tumblr.com/about) page. I’m also active on both [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/pvoberstein/overview) and [Tumblr](http://www.pvoberstein.tumblr.com/), and can be reached through any of the means on my [Contact](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/profile) page.


End file.
